Correct, less likely to fail. They are still there though. Removal involves taking the manifold off, removing the flap motor and pulling the control rod out of the end of the manifold (it runs through the middle) then getting the flaps out. The motor can be reinstalled so there's no hole on the manifold and a blanking plug put in.
I'm gonna guess you have no DPF in it either so someone has taken care of that headache for you. Suspiciously dirty exhaust pipe if it's still in! They're spotless if they're still fitted.

After 3 months nearly from the order date, there's a set of custom headlights on the way to me from America. I won't go into full details, but suffice to say the company have been somewhat unhelpful in trying to trace them for me (they were originally posted 2 months ago, but the tracking code never showed them as collected. Annoying considering the lights and postage came in at nearly 700 quid) but after much harassing, they finally got onto USPS and got them to trace the lights. They were also going to begin building me another set. I believe USPS have found them and they're now on the way, I've never been so happy to see a tracking page show as in transit. I'm gonna wait for them to arrive and then ask to claim the postage back from USPS. I paid for priority postage and then they effectively lost them. Priority postage was £160 on its own!

Very true, but this site and most forums have limited capacity for storage. I think we get 100MB on here which would be about 30-60ish photos depending on file size. It doesn't take long to burn through that with the odd photo here and there. Maybe a how2 guide or something.

Depending how violently the pipe blew off and if anything was hit at the same time or fell off from the shock, you may have lost the vac pipe that controls the wastegate on the big turbo so it'll be doing what it wants. Check those down there first.

Haha thank you. Hopefully soon I'll be able to crack 450BHP and then 500 with a fuel pump swap. I should add that on a recent jaunt to Cornwall and back with just a 1 day stop down there when it was parked up, it averaged 44MPG cruising at motorway speed. Reasonable considering the power level.

The first parts for the methanol kit arrived today. I was going to chop out the spare wheel holder and plate the floor but it would be a big piece that would need cutting out and I really don't fancy that. Luckily the tank will fit around it - just!
Tank test fit:
Gave everything a good clean and do some masking in preparation for a few coats of satin black to protect the panels and so the tank blends in a bit better:
And finished. I'll leave it 24 hours to dry before putting the boot trims back in. I'll be ordering the rest of the kit soon so the tank won't be bolted to the floor yet because I'd need to take it out to put fittings in it. I'm also going to put in some form of fluid drainage should there be a leak in there, and a vent for the tank so any evaporation doesn't fill up the boot space. Might stick some LED strip in there too linked to the boot light so I can see easier when filling the tank if it's dark.
I've found a part number from a Porsche forum for some water drains fitted to the back of the old 964s so I'll ring the local Porsche dealer in the morning to order some in. From reading they're only a couple of quid each. I want 2 of them.
MOT time tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

I'm just going to leave this here.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1601182
Serious want for a 911. Fully recommend anyone with half an hour to kill read through that thread. That car's a proper workhorse for a motorsport courier. Just the first post sums it up well.